Here’s our view from our first Parisian cafe experience. Like many of these cafes, they have a small-ish round table where they somehow fit all the food. It felt cramped compared to the super-sized American versions.

My drink of choice these days is sparkling water, readily available throughout our European trip. Amusingly, all American-looking customers were served large bottles while the French-looking people received small bottles. They knew we Americans drink a lot of water. My wife got some white wine.

We also ordered an appetizer, but I can’t remember it since I don’t have a photographic record.

My wife got the French Onion Soup, which I found out is really from France — you never know. It was delicious. She ordered the soup in other places, but this one was the best. I went for a light pasta dish.

We had a very favorable exchange rate during the September trip a year ago. The food prices were higher but not tremendously, given that only minimal tipping was required, unlike the ever-rising tips that seem to exceed 20% now in America.

We had a tremendous first-cafe experience. Rested and full, we had many more tourist stops on our second day.

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